Gay Mormons? (And Lesbian Mormons, Trans Mormons, Bi-Mormons, which does anyone even think they acknowledge bisexuality? Pfft!) Are there LGBTQ Mormons? How does that even work? Surprise! It doesn’t! Well, they’re trying, both the church and the members. Sometimes. Well, kind of? Listen to this week’s episode and let’s see if we can figure out what the heck and how the heck. (And you’ll get a little sneak peek at my upcoming novel, AND IT CAME TO PASS, about a missionary who realizes he’s gay while serving in Barcelona, Spain. Oh my heck!)

Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a thing! (And thanks for listening!)

We’re back with the final polygamy episode where I’ll go into some more detail about how groups like Warren Jeff’s YFZ Ranch came to be, how accurate the show Big Love was, and the (small) part I played with the Texas Rangers taking out a bunch of real low-lifes out in ElDorado, TX. Some of what I share has never been spoken of publicly… You won’t want to miss this one!

Be sure to subscribe and download–the episodes disappear! (That is, until I upgrade my podcasting host.)

It’s finally here: the Polygamy Papers! Well, not paper, because it’s an audiofile. Podcast. WHATEVER. Look, it’s all the dirty details of how polygamy got started, and it’s so big a topic that we’re breaking it into multiple episodes. This particular episode is voiced by the one and only Kathleen Turner! By which I mean a congested me.

*No Kathleen Turners were harmed in the making of this podcast.

Be sure to share the podcast with friends–or your enemies! I’m not the judge of you!–and leave me comments or questions right here.

(The final episode of the polygamy series will have a list of resources and a reading list, should that be a thing you’re into!)

What do teenagers, flesh-eating bacterias and $244 million dollars a year all have in common? Mormon Missions!

This week’s episode is twice as long with triple the content (that math could work if you’d just let it be) with loads of stories about what really happens on missions, and a whole lot of information the LDS Church would prefer you didn’t pay attention to…

And if you want to read my novel about life on an LDS mission and coming out “while Mormon”, you can pre-order AND IT CAME TO PASS here.

Most of my paternal family are a mix of ranchers, farmers and a coal miner or two, and they’re not known for running off at the mouth. I think there’s a type of man who delights in using as few words as possible. And as much as I love loud, take-no-prisoner type women, I also love a still-waters-run-deep sort of fella.

Sweet Abuelita, an illustration in the book.

Henry “Hank” Burnett, from the book cover

In my second novel, Bitter Springs, an historical Western set in Del Rio, Texas in the 1870s, I had a lot of fun with Henry “Hank” Burnett, the freed slave turned mesteñeros, stepping in as the quintessential cowboy. (And for more on how he absolutely was the quintessential cowboy–most likely not straight nor white–click here.) In the following excerpts, Renaldo is a young, coming of age horse-trainer (21) the baby of a boisterous, loving Texican family. He’s made a faux pas and… well, maybe it’s best you read it. (And get a glass of water, ’cause brother, Hank is dry.)Continue reading

…did you say Mormons baptize dead people?? Well, yes. But not like you think. They aren’t grave robbing and plopping corpses into tubs of water in the temple. They’re just stealing the names of dead people!

That doesn’t make it sound better, huh?

Listen to this week’s episode and learn some of the famous people who are now Mormon! Like Golda Meir! *cough*

Be sure to subscribe on Soundcloud or through iTunes/Stitcher so you don’t miss an episode!

This week is all about “What the heck?” When did your family become Mormon? What’s with the no swearing? Are you saying Mormons are the originators of Fake News? Are you just disgruntled? Whoa, you great-great-grandfather had how many dead wives? Do you honestly have a recipe for pancakes with 7-Up as an ingredient?

…I hate that I do, you guys. I hate that I do. Listen and find out “What the heck?”

One of the drawbacks of Mormon Culture—a term by which I mean the culture that Mormons and Mormon-adjacent folks who live in Utah and surrounding Mormon-concentrated areas like Idaho and Arizona engage in—drawbacks of this is the expectation for a life that isn’t really based on reality. It’s an idea that if you live life like a character in a ’50’s television show, that “Aww shucks, I’m meeting Penny and Skip at the Frosty’s for a malted!” lifestyle, everything is going to turn out perfectly.

Your fellow citizens provide your laugh track, which means you need to up the hijinks every week. At first you think this Leave it to Beaver episode is going to be fun, but when you look at it through the lens of reality, you start to wonder where Mrs. Cleaver hides the hard liquor to cope. It’s only through thinking back on those formative years where I developed my tastes and preferences in dating that I can see how it really set me up to fail in finding my Perfect Mormon Husband. (Spoiler alert: I never did.)

This week’s podcast is all about the dumb, unnecessarily huge gestures that I made to woo boys, how this sets up expectations for romance that’s almost impossible to achieve, and the ultimate way for a Mormon girl to ask a boy named Joseph Smith to a dance, based off a true and amazing story. This week is brought to you by a flood of shameful and hilarious memories that I had from listening to This American Life‘s podcast about grand gestures (and if you haven’t read Elna Baker’s book, The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance, you should! AND SEE? I wasn’t lying about all the dances!!)

My third novel. I’m so proud of this one–it’s based off a short story of mine from almost ten years ago. I wrote it for a family member who is deeply closeted with no sign of coming out, and honestly, for myself and for other LGBT Mormons I knew. Over the next few months, I’ll have a lot to say about how the LDS church treats its LGBTQ members (short story: it’s not good) and how I tried to walk the line between being respectful of the members of a religion who are just doing their best and openly criticising rules and mindsets that are doing real damage to a significant number of people.

For the record, Utah is leading the nation in teen suicide, and the vast majority of those teens are LGBTQ. It’s a horrific statistic. I feel like now more than ever a book that depicts the reality of life as a devout Mormon and how challenging coming out can be (with both positive and negative outcomes), this book needs to be. And it is!

May 18th. You can currently pre-order AND IT CAME TO PASS at Target, as they’re using our publishing house, Interlude Press, to “test” the market for literature featuring LGBTQ protagonists. And even better, they’re offering it at a massive discount off the cover price as a pre-order (with no detriment to me or my publisher!).

Stay tuned, and in particular look for “Mormon Mondays” with upcoming podcasts, interviews, and more.

About The Author

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Laura Stone, a life-long fangirl and geek since the days of Compuserve accounts, was finally able to devote her energy to writing full-time after several years of acting, studying Microbiology, becoming a Master Gardener, and raising children. They're not fully raised, but then, neither is she.
Laura is a descendant of pioneer polygamists from the early days of the Mormon Church and a former Gospel Doctrine teacher. She has over 160 first cousins. See: Mormons with big Mormon families.
She lives in Texas as proof that it's not completely populated by hard-line right wingers. And because that's where the good tamales are.
And It Came To Pass, now in bookstores May 18, 2017. Order a copy at the following locations:INTERLUDE PRESS(note: I've had people very kindly ask where to make a purchase that best benefits me. Buying straight from my publisher does just that! But hey, a buy is a buy is a buy and I love you.) Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple/iBooks,Target, Kobo, Smashwords, Book Depository, Indiebound

The Bones Of You, now available everywhere fine books (and heck, some mediocre books) are sold, such as:
AmazonB & N, iTunes, Smashwords, and the IP Store.
I'm proud to announce that THE BONES OF YOU is an IndieFab Foreward's Review 2014 Book Of The Year Finalist in two categories: LGBT and Romance!
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